1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid ejecting heads and liquid ejecting apparatuses using the liquid ejecting heads.
2. Related Art
Liquid ejecting heads that eject liquid through nozzle openings are applied in, for example, image recording apparatuses as liquid ejecting apparatuses such as printers, liquid ejecting apparatuses used in the manufacture of color filters for liquid crystal display devices and the like, and so on.
There is provided a type of liquid ejecting head in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric element formed on a surface of a vibration plate in accordance with a driving signal from a driving circuit so that the piezoelectric element is caused to bend and deform to eject a liquid droplet. This type of liquid ejecting head includes a vibration plate, a pressure generation chamber, part of which is formed by the vibration plate, nozzle openings, and a head unit having a manifold. The head unit is manufactured by layering the vibration plate, a flow channel formation substrate, a nozzle plate in which the nozzle openings are formed, and so on.
For example, an ink jet recording head formed of ceramic plate members that are calcined and connected in an integrated manner is well-known as a liquid ejecting head (for example, see JP-A-10-286956).
In the case where a calcination process is carried out in an integrated manner using a vibration plate, a flow channel formation substrate and a nozzle plate as insulative ceramic materials, the insulative ceramic materials can be electrically charged by a piezoelectric element, static electricity and the like. As a result, insulation breakdown can be caused to occur in the vibration plate, or a driving circuit can be damaged by the electrical charges through an electrode of the piezoelectric element, and so on.